Saturday, February 24, 2007

Fuzz is the black and white cat, Drake is the little black ball curled up next to him.

Our Drakie is sick. Her kidneys are failing. This is the kitty that at age 15 had a thyroidectomy. Her overactive thyroid was causing her little heart to race at 300 beats/minute, lose at least a pound and at 6 pounds she couldn't afford one unth of an ounce. So, she had it removed. She didn't want the surgery, but she didn't like the nasty meds she had to use either....not an oral medication but smelly cream rubbed on her ear that was of a questionable dosage at best.

Drake was a feral cat and it took us 10 years to get her to trust us, let us hold her and love her to pieces...which we do every chance we get. She has always been an inside kitty and healthy.

She is tiny cat; eight pounds at her max. She was my son's cat....his requested college graduation gift. She moved back home with him when his work grant wasn't renewed. We moved to Idaho and my son married around the same time. The natural home for Drake was with us and we were happy about that....she was a sister to Babie, Fuzz and Mimi even if all of the girls fought and hissed and swatted at each other.

The last few weeks she has gotten a bit more tired, napping a lot, and it is obvious she has not been grooming or eating well. Once her thyroid was removed the blood flow that had been raging through her kidneys was slowed down to almost normal and the kidney failure became obvious. She isn't critical....yet. She got some SubQ fluids Wednesday at the vet's office and I now have her on Science Diet K/D and I hope we can keep her lab values at high normal for a while. The vet said she will have a crisis at some point and then we will have to make decisions.......try giving her SubQ fluids at home, hospitalize her, dialysis....or just keep her comfortable for as long as we can. Add to all of this...her thyroid levels are way below normal. The vet thought that she had left enough tissue to generate some activity....but no. So, we will now have to give her thyroid meds...but the upside of that is it will help her kidney function. Quite the conundrum!

I ABSOLUTELY HATE THIS. Drake is our Charlie-kitty. I have to admit I love her the most of all of our kitties....she is an old girl...16 in April....and she loves me. She snuggles with me on the couch at night when I am reading and watching TV, will sleep under the covers with me when Steve is gone (if Sophie doesn't beat her to the bed) and while she won't give me kisses, she will lay her little head on my shoulder when I hold her and let me kiss her. Fuzz is being the best nurse. She naps in the bend of his tummy and he will put a paw on her head. He bathes her face, ears and neck and is so patient with her when she is in a bad mood.

Our pets have become our children....a fact of empty human old age. It feels like I am losing a child and dammit it hurts....horribly.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

My favorite flower....the sweet violet. Can't you smell them? Don't you want to touch your computer screen and feel how soft and delicate they are? I will be going to my son's home today and will sit on his planter wall and smell them with my granddaughter Sachiko.....violets are her favorite flower too......blooming or not the leaves carry the scent as well.

I Am

An old grey haired woman with a brunette mind....71 is the new 45 isn't it? I was a beautician, a Registered Nurse, a Library Tech. I am a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
We moved to North Idaho in 1998; our last big adventure. It has been a dream come true, a challenge and a time to reflect.